Tectona grandis leaf extract, free and associated with nanoemulsions, as a possible photosensitizer of mouse melanoma B16 cell.

Over the past six years we have been studying extracts from tropical, specially Amazon, plants, to search for new sensitizers for photodynamic therapy of cancer and infectious diseases. Tectona grandis is a genus of tropical hardwood trees in the mint family, Lamiaceae. That is native to south and southeast Asia, but since the end of the 20th century is also gaining ground in the Amazon.